Advanced Diagnostic Imaging

Mission Pet Emergency now has a new state-of-the-art ultrasound machine to help aid in making a more accurate diagnosis of your pet’s problem during an emergency visit. The new ultrasound helps our emergency doctors diagnose diseases and injuries inside the abdomen and chest, quickly. For example, in emergency situations such as acute collapse, trauma (hit by car, blunt force trauma etc), a FAST exam can be performed. FAST stands for Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma. This exam is a quick scan of either the abdomen, thorax (chest) or both to look for fluid or air. Fluid in the abdomen can be an indication of active bleeding, heart disease, cancer, inflammation or peritonitis (bacterial contamination in the abdomen). All of these can cause your pet to collapse and require immediate medical attention.

Our new ultrasound machine

In some instances and with chronic diseases such as diarrhea, vomiting or anorexia, a more thorough ultrasound is needed. X-rays are usually taken first to look for obvious organ disease. If the x-rays are not conclusive, or if there is an area of concern, the ultrasound can be used to identify the problem. Unlike radiographs (x-rays), the ultrasound allows the clinician to appreciate tissue appearance. Each organ has a different appearance (echogenicity) with ultrasound and therefore the ultrasound can identify changes in organ consistency. For example, tumors can often change the appearance of an organ. In addition to the FAST scan, there are five additional organs that can be evaluated during emergency abdominal ultrasound. The BIG 5, as they are commonly called, are the liver, spleen, right and left kidney and the urinary bladder. With great technique and superior medical technology, our veterinarians can confirm pyometra (uterine infection), non radio-opaque bladder stones, and tumors in the liver or spleen.

Sometimes, a more comprehensive diagnostic ultrasound should be performed and these are generally done by a board certified veterinary radiologist or an internist. These clinicians are experts in their field. Check out our preferred provider, Mission Veterinary Specialists, for more information about their specialists.

Dr. F is imaging Charlie! Our crew is standing by. We are receiving hands on training for our new ultrasound machine

Emergency ultrasonography provides an emergency clinician an additional tool to diagnose life threatening problems quickly enabling our team to address them faster and more accurately than before. This allows us to save more lives!

Until next time, please spay and neuter your pet and keep them healthy and indoors!